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Costume design
Stone, Alix, born 1913 - Enlarge image
Costume design
- Date:
1968 (painted, Drawn)
- Artist/Maker:
Stone, Alix, born 1913 (costume designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Pencil, Pen & Ink, Ink, and Black Crayon, on Paper
- Credit Line:
Given by Alix Stone
- Museum number:
S.240-2001
- Gallery location:
In Storage
Most costume designs show a single costume, which means that it can be difficult to visualise what it would look like on stage as one among many. Alix Stone would often draw groups of characters together, so that everyone could see the place of each design in the overall scheme. This was particularly important when designing opera, where the chorus usually works as a unit as well as individuals.
Designing everyday working clothes is perhaps more difficult than recreating period clothes. There is a danger of overall drabness or similarity of style. This is especially true in an opera like Peter Grimes, set in a Suffolk fishing village, where most men would wear traditional gurnsey sweaters and rubber boots, but there is also a number of tradesmen which help give a visual variety to the scene. Drawing groups again ensures that there is a sufficient varied look to the ensemble.
